After tumbling 25 feet down a waterfall in the San Bernardino Mountains on Sunday and crashing onto a rocky pool below, an injured hiker was fortunate someone heard him screaming for help.
A 911 call was made and a rescue helicopter responded rapidly, using ropes to hoist the man several hundred feet into the air and then to safety, according to the San Bernardino County Fire Department.
“Gosh, this person got lucky, because first of all they didn’t die, but it was also good weather, good visibility, someone heard them calling for help, and the helicopter was available,” said department spokesperson Shawn Millerick. “It was the best time to have any injury like that.”
The hiker lost his footing trying to cross a slick, moss-covered pool at the upper level of Big Falls waterfall in Forest Falls, sending him plummeting down to the lower pool, according to the Fire Department.
A specialized rescue helicopter from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department responded to the incident around 3:45 p.m. and lowered a paramedic to the pool. The paramedic then worked with fire personnel on the ground to secure the patient in a rescue basket and airlift him to a local trauma center.
This hiker was far from the first to take a tumble at this notorious spot, authorities said.
“It’s a common occurrence out there. The waterfall is fairly accessible to a parking area, so it gets a lot of attraction and visitors,” said Millerick. “People, more often than not, fall from the same exact location and are found lying in the same exact position every time.”
There are signs warning of the dangers of the waterfall, but hikers often ignore them, Millerick said.
“To try to bring someone down in a stokes basket [or rescue littler] by hand is very cumbersome, time-consuming and aggravates their injuries, so the best thing is to take them out by a helicopter,” he said.
Nevertheless, doing so has its challenges as the helicopter must be flown very close to the wall of the canyon in order to lower the ropes down to the secluded pool below.
“It’s a dangerous operation to begin with,” said Millerick.
The hiker’s injuries were severe and likely included several broken bones but, thanks to the quick action of the rescue team, did not appear to be life-threatening, he said.
Not everyone who attempts to clamber across the falls is as lucky.
In 2022, there were two fatalities at Big Falls — a 33-year-old man who tumbled an estimated 80 feet to the base of the fall in May and a 43-year-old man who suffered a 20 foot fall in July, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
When these sorts of accidents happen, people are often separated from their phones and unable to call for help. Sometimes they wind up stranded overnight as the pool where they often land is not clearly visible from below.
The county Fire Department reminds people to stay on marked hiking trails at all times and avoid climbing on or around any waterfalls.
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